Upright vacuum cleaners in all of their designs and permutations have become increasingly popular over the years. The upright vacuum cleaners generally incorporate a nozzle assembly and a canister assembly pivotally mounted to the nozzle assembly which ride on wheels over the floor surface to be cleaned. The canister assembly includes an operating handle that is manipulated by the user to move the vacuum cleaner to and fro across the floor. The canister assembly also includes either a bag-like filter or a cyclonic separation chamber and filter combination that traps dirt and debris while substantially clean air is exhausted by a fan that is driven by an onboard electric motor. It is this fan and motor arrangement that generates the drop in air pressure necessary to provide the desired cleaning action. In most upright vacuum cleaners sold today, a rotary agitator is also provided in the nozzle assembly. The rotary agitator includes tufts of bristles, brushes, beater bars or the like to beat dirt and debris from the nap of a carpet being cleaned while the pressure drop or vacuum is used to force air entrained with this dirt and debris into the nozzle of the vacuum cleaner.
While a rotary agitator is very beneficial in efficiently and effectively cleaning the pile of a carpet, it is at a disadvantage when trying to clean a bare floor such as a tile, hardwood, vinyl floor covering or other smooth surface flooring. Specifically, the rapid rotary motion of the agitator generates air currents that are often sufficiently strong to push light dirt and debris (e.g. dog and cat hair) away from the intake nozzle. Thus, under certain operating conditions, a rotary agitator may actually interfere with efficient cleaning.
In order to avoid this problem, many upright vacuum cleaners are equipped with bare floor cleaning switches that allow the operator to interrupt power to the agitator. The stationary agitator does not generate the air currents noted above and as a consequence, light dirt and debris on the bare floor is quickly and efficiently drawn by the fan and motor arrangement from the floor into the nozzle of the vacuum cleaner.
The present invention relates to an improved bare floor cleaning switch assembly of relatively simple and inexpensive construction that provides reliable and dependable operation over a long service life. Such a switch may not only be used in an upright vacuum cleaner but also a power head of a canister vacuum cleaner or even in an extractor.